Harbaugh Q&A: Preparing for test, ready to compete like maniacs

Jim Harbaugh said Akers would retain his starting spot after the NFL’s 30th-ranked placekicker in field-goal percentage during the regular season made his only attempt, a 36-yarder on the final play of the second quarter, in Saturday’s 45-31 divisional-playoff win over the Packers.

“David’s our kicker,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh said Cundiff remains on the 53-man roster. The 49ers can only make four roster moves during the postseason. They will presumably keep Cundiff in the event Akers’ struggles during the playoffs.

Here’s the full transcript of Harbaugh’s news conference:

How did Justin Smith make it through game?

“Good. Played well. Came out of the game as clean as possible.”

Did you expect him to pick up where he left off?

“It looked good in practice, and the feedback we were getting from his was positive.”

Do you know how many plays he was off the field?

“No, not exactly how many plays he wasn’t on the field, but he was out there a good amount.”

What do the Falcons do best?

“They had a great season, top seed. They’re coming off of a game that gives them a lot of momentum. But solid in every regard. They showed that they could run the ball against a very good run defense, and make a lot of plays on the perimeter with their receivers. Defensively, again, they do a great job of coaching, scheming. Lot of looks. Special teams is solid. So, you get to this point you’re gonna play a very good team.”

Talk to your brother or dad yesterday?

“Umm-hmm.”

Everyone pretty excited?

“Yeah, everybody was real excited.”

Talk to both?

“Yeah.”

What your dad have to say about it?

“He was excited. Had one of those days where Indiana beat Minnesota in a big basketball game. Then they watched John’s game, exciting, thrilling, winning game for the Ravens. And then our game. My parents are in their 70s. That’s a lot of excitement, that’s a lot of action. That’s like going back-to-back-to-back, like three “24” episodes in a row.”

Will they travel this weekend?

“They haven’t said what they’re gonna do this weekend.”

What are you doing to prepare for the dome?

“Important preparation again this week, study for the test. We’ll have crowd noise. But the big task will be the Atlanta Falcons and preparing for them.”

Cundiff still around?

“Yes.”

Will he be competing again?

“Yeah, David’s our kicker.”

The talent you took over two years ago …

“It’s pretty well documented. It’s been a joy to work with these players. Any success that we have is driven by their efforts on the field.”

Did that talent sway your decision to come here?

“My decision two years ago? Umm… that was two years ago, I don’t really see the relevance of that right now. Getting ready for this week, this game.”

Well, the relevance is that the guy who started building roster is on other sidelines this week.

“I think that’s the relevant thing, is preparing for the Atlanta Falcons defense. They do an excellent job. And getting to know them, that’s where our focus is. We haven’t played ‘em in the two years we’ve been here, so it’s a task, a challenge to understand what they’re doing schematically.”

How much does pure speed weigh into Kaepernick’s success?

“It’s an asset that he has, a talent. He’s been able to use that in a number of ways.”

You just had this record game by a QB rushing. For many years in the NFL, conventional wisdom was you couldn’t have a QB run the ball that often. Why did you embrace this? What has changed in the NFL?

“Quarterbacks with talent for running the ball can be very effective. That’s long been known in the NFL – quarterback who can get out of the pocket, run and pick up first downs, that’s a threat the defense has to account for. There are some quarterback-driven runs that have been added because our quarterbacks are very good at those, and Colin especially. He’s very fast and very good at reading and executing that type of offense. So that’s the reason.

Is it accurate that you recruited RG III to Stanford and planned to use him with Luck in a two-QB system?

“It’s true we recruited Griffin, yeah. … Not necessarily (two-QB system), no. He would have competed for the job and the top player would have played. … This doesn’t seem relevant to what we’re trying to accomplish this week.

If a reporter was writing about running quarterbacks, it could tie in.

“Good luck with that story.”

Thanks for your assistance.

Is it a concern that Delanie Walker seems to have dropped a lot of passes over the second half of the season, including Saturday night?

“He’s caught a lot of passes, too. It’s something we’ll look at and Delanie will get on the Jugs and make sure he’s catching those balls.

Do you think some guys struggle with the velocity of Kap’s passes?

“I know I do in the pregame – I got to wear gloves and I still drop a few. The ball gets on you real fast.”

Do you see the guys adjusting and getting better at it?

“I definitely see the guys adjusting to Colin’s throws, as you would expect, through repetition and practice. It’s been tremendous. Michael Crabtree – name a guy who catches the ball better. All he does is continue to catch and catch and catch the ball. So tremendous game by him once again. Colin has the ability to put touch on the ball as well –like that ball he threw to Frank Gore while running to his left, out of the pocket. He’s a threat to run and also throw. He kept his eyes up the field and laid a feathered ball in there to Frank, and that created a big play in the game. There were several throws, getting off the running quarterback topic, just in terms of Colin throwing the ball. There were piercing throws in this game, where he powered the ball through the defense. I’m thinking of throws to Randy in the middle of the field, to Vernon Davis for 45 or 50 yards the ball is in the air and on a line, to a spot. And the grab by Vernon on that particular play.

“I think we played extremely well in this last game, certainly not perfect, but it was a great team win for our team and many contributors. Look at what we did special teams wise, the coverage was outstanding. C.J. Spillman would be the highlighted guy, his tackle inside the 11, fumble recovery, tremendous effort by our group on special teams and defensively as well. To get stops against the Green Bay Packers – any stop, anywhere on the field – is a great effort. But to get the turnover by T. Brown, and I thought Patrick Willis had a heck of a game, we already noted Justin. Really great team defense. Maybe not the highlight sticker some of the offensive players got in this game, but I thought they played really well as a unit.

The way you were able to control Clay Matthews, protect Colin, run the ball, is this one of your offensive line’s better games or just a continuation of what you’ve been seeing most of the year?

Well I think Joe Staley in particular and Mike Iupati — Mike graded out the best game he’s had since we’ve been with him. So tremendous game by Mike and Joe, I think were really both playing great football. And then again, the offensive line as a unit, when you put in Jonathan Goodwin and Alex Boone and the efforts of Anthony Davis, to rush the ball for over 300 yards, that is about as good as you can do. And those guys really deserve a lot of credit up front. They’ve been healthy, they’ve played through nicks and toughness is a talent, just like running ability for a quarterback. Toughness is a talent that our offensive line has shown that they have and they continue to do well. And this is a team that will just, will plow ahead and get ready for this week.

How is Staley’s arm doing? Do you have any updates on that?

“No, I haven’t talked to Joe.”

Can you elaborate just on the receivers that Atlanta has – (Roddy) White and (Julio) Jones, and then (Tony) Gonzalez, and what makes them challenging?

Yeah, and Gonzalez. It’s a big task, it’s a big challenge when you look at the way they can … and it’s been designed that way by them. They’ve put together a tremendous receiving unit that you can’t pay too much attention to just one guy because several can hurt you. They’re good.

Jim it’s been a long time since the 49ers won a playoff road game. Are you even aware of that streak?

“Yeah, I heard that people are saying that this week.”

You were the backup quarterback when they beat the Bears in 1989, that last win on the road. Do you have any memories of that game?

“Yeah, I remember Jerry Rice catching a ball down the Niners’ sideline. Cold as heck. We got whipped.”

Jim, you’re in rarified air here with back-to-back championship games. Are you going to bring in any guys from the past, maybe a Jerry Rice or anything, just to talk about the legacy of this team when it comes to the playoffs?

“Yeah, that’s a possibility. Good suggestion. But I think mainly we’re going to plow ahead, and we’re going to continue our humility and work ethic, and those will be the cornerstones of our preparation this week.”

Going to Atlanta on Friday?

(Nods).

You had a close-knit team last year, especially on defense, and it seems like it’s even closer now and it’s gone over to the offense too where guys just seem to gravitate toward each other more. Do you notice that or is that something I’m making up? And what do you attribute that to?

“Well, thanks for noticing that. And yeah, we want to be about that. But I don’t think it’s a tribute to anything. I think it’s just who we are as a team, who our players are, and it’s talent and it’s character. I’ve always thought that about our team.”

How much of that comes from players recognizing that other players are “there for them,” sort of have their back, and just realize we’re all in this thing together?

“Yeah I think that’s where it comes from, being a great teammate, doing the best to your God-given ability each and every time is a great gift that you can give another man. To have his back, that’s a strong phrase. But I don’t think it’s just something that our guys talk about, I think it’s who they are.”

Does that kind of go back to the core group of guys who were here when you got here, and have been through a lot together and hadn’t gotten over the hump to be a winning team?

“Yeah I definitely think it goes back to the guys. That’s what it is – it’s the guys, it’s the ways. It’s the guys that you have, it’s the ways that you do things.”

You mentioned earlier you struggled catching Colin’s passes pre-game. Can you elaborate on what that’s like and is it comparable to any other quarterback you’ve caught passes from?

“I don’t know that I’d compare it really. Catching Alex’s too and sometimes I’ll drop a Colin ball, drop an Alex ball. I beat myself up for dropping them. I try to go through every pre-game without dropping a ball. I know Scott Tolzein’s over there counting. He always gets a chuckle when I drop one. You strive for perfection. They make it difficult.”

How many passes did you drop Saturday?

“How many drops Saturday? Two.”

One from each quarterback?

“One from each, yeah. I dropped one from Scott (Tolzien). I come out and catch for Alex in the pre-game and I dropped one from Scott.”

So, you dropped three?

“Three, three, correction. I stand corrected.”

Does last season’s appearance in the NFC Championship Game make your team better prepared for this year’s game?

“The feel is that, what I said, we’re just going to plow ahead with our focus on studying for the test and go out and competing like maniacs. We know it will be us against them, they’ll keep score. So, as far as difference, no, I don’t …”

But is your team better prepared this time around?

“We’ll find that out on Sunday. Right now, our focus and expectations are what I said they were.”

Faced top-five quarterbacks in recent games. Does that help prepare you for Matt Ryan?

“Everything you’ve done prepares you for where you’re at. Even playing in dome games. That gives you some experience. We’ve definitely played a lot of top-flight quarterbacks. Matt Ryan certainly is that. At the same time, we’ll treat it as preparation for the Atlanta Falcons.”

What does it say about your family that two sons coached teams to the conference championship games each of the past two seasons?

“I don’t know what it says. I’m proud of my brother and what he’s accomplished and I’m proud of our guys for being in the position they’re in and we’re ready to forge ahead.”

But it’s rare to have two brothers accomplish that, agreed? Can count the number on one hand?

“I don’t have that list.”

Why doesn’t Aldon Smith have a sack in his past four games? Are teams doing things to move around the quarterback and get away from him?

“Yeah, they’re definitely going to account for Aldon Smith.”

More so than earlier in the season?

“I can’t say that, one way or the other.”

Any explanation for the dearth of sacks from Aldon Smith, though?

“Why hasn’t he gotten a sack every single game or two sacks every single game? He’s been effective. He’s playing effective. That’s good. It’s what we want. We want to strive for perfection, keep chasing that. But you guys are pointing out every single spot that we haven’t quite gotten there.”

What do you like about Matt Ryan?

“Just about everything. He’s a smart, heady quarterback. One of the tops in the league.”